21 - Frenkie de Jong

[Nucky]

He was great vs Villareal and showed it would be a mistake to sell him.. Our best midfielder..

 

[Windhook]

Played a cool headed game and visibly he is improving his game under Xavi. There were moments after Villareal's goal when the whole team seemed in panic, but Frenkie and Gavi took control of the situation. Should mention that brilliant pass to Depay that became miss of the season in La Liga so far.

 

[Nazario1985]

omg people falling again for this kind of trap.

Played a little bit above average against a week ass team who had their mind still in the CL loss==> our best midfielder ... sight

Some already start saying : he improved under Xavi

By the same standards Arthur was a god !!

Don't hate the guy, he is just an ok midfielder who is payed way too much for what he brings.

We need a solid creative mid-guy as soon as possible, our midfield is crap without Busi like it or not.

 

[BerkeleyBernie]

Some already start saying : he improved under Xavi

I've never been a fan of FDJ, always thought he was vastly overrated. I'm not saying he's a great midfielder or that he'll ever become one. But in the two games under Xavi, I see him correcting some of the flaws in his game. He's scanning now without the ball (a key Xavi skill) which improves the speed of his decision-making. It's not "He had a good game;" it's "He's becoming more skillful." If he can keep increasing his awareness and stop being a player who kills flow, I'm happy to see if he can be a part of a new system under Xavi.

 

[Bobo32]

I've never been a fan of FDJ, always thought he was vastly overrated. I'm not saying he's a great midfielder or that he'll ever become one. But in the two games under Xavi, I see him correcting some of the flaws in his game. He's scanning now without the ball (a key Xavi skill) which improves the speed of his decision-making. It's not "He had a good game;" it's "He's becoming more skillful." If he can keep increasing his awareness and stop being a player who kills flow, I'm happy to see if he can be a part of a new system under Xavi.

I somewhat agree. He played well yesterday, but the game prior was pretty bad I thought.
I see some of the improvements you mention (more of a heightened ambition than "new" habits though I think) but I still think he is slow and unelegant in his decisions most of the time. I hope Xavi keeps him on his toes, while at the same time bringing him a lot of confidence. He also needs instructions, and I think this is the last chance for him to really make some changes to his habits and his style.

 

[FC433]

How do you replace all of them? I am all for it btw.
But midfield will have only 4 players by the start of next season in such case: Gavi (17) Nico (20) Pedri (19) & FDJ (25)
I assume we can get a free player like Kamara/Zakaria/Brozovicbut we will still be at least one high level midfielder missing, and we won't get any money from the 3 departures while having big needs in attack, defense & GK

I apologize for the late response. Realistically, I would keep FDJ Pedri Gavi as main trio, while having Busquets, Nico, and either Kamara/ Zakaria (to try them before making some $$$) as backup. Sell Roberto, Puig, and MP.

 

[iniestaGOAT]

High praise from Xavi. Time to take the game to the next level Frenkie.

 

[Franscar]

FDJ Pedri Gavi has no real holding midfielder. If FDJ doesn't start really turning it on I think he could be sold

 

[vuji_31]

I think actually he might be sold in 2023.

 

[Porque]

FDJ Pedri Gavi has no real holding midfielder. If FDJ doesn't start really turning it on I think he could be sold

On the other hand the trio are good individually defensively. So if Frenkie was DMC they would have fo be fluid and cover his space.

I feel Pedri could be our DMC solution as he plays quite static and has a high tackle win rate. Its a tough one as he has a natural offensive game which can also be unleashed.

 

[Bobo32]

On the other hand the trio are good individually defensively. So if Frenkie was DMC they would have fo be fluid and cover his space.

I feel Pedri could be our DMC solution as he plays quite static and has a high tackle win rate. Its a tough one as he has a natural offensive game which can also be unleashed.

Pedri played well as DMC last year!
I dislike his off the ball movement patterns, even if he makes it work in some way. But I think out of the three, Pedri benefits the most from being in a static position, at least to my eye...
I don't think the position is good for Frenkie, I think I'd rather have him in every other outfield position before DMC.

 

[Devils]

Prediction: He will have a 0/10 disasterclass against Bayern Munich.

 

[JohnN]

Almost cost as a goal at some point but got lucky in the end. Stuff like that with Bayern will get us a new cl humiliation record score.

 

[fergus90]

I thought he did well initially when he came in and sprayed some nice passes to Memphis who made nothing of them. But yeah he looks a combination of unfit and out of form to me.

 

[Zidane82]

I thought he did well initially when he came in and sprayed some nice passes to Memphis who made nothing of them. But yeah he looks a combination of unfit and out of form to me.

We have not played well for ages .. . so it is difficult to play well .

It is all the more remarkable that Gavi and Nico have done so well